Earlier this week, I openly wondered whether the decision of Brown running back Peyton Hillis to skip last Sunday’s game due to strep throat had anything to do with the lack of a new contract. Some of you didn’t appreciate the implication.

Well, if you didn’t like that, you’re gonna hate this.

Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that there are whispers in the locker room that Hillis’ decision not to play was indeed influenced by a contract that currently pays him $600,000 for 2011.

Of course, it may just be that the teammates don’t understand why a guy chose not to play due to a condition that many believe is fairly innocuous — even though it isn’t. But as Tony Romo said after returning to a game with a broken rib and a punctured lung, football players play football. And so it makes sense for other football players to wonder why a football player isn’t playing football.

it’s called…the browns or should I say the NFL doesn’t run the ball anymore…therefore in a year from now Peyton Hillis will be Cleveland’s Frank Gore. Hillis was good last year largely due to the scheme but also from the help of L. Vickers…who is no longer with the team.

If Hillis sat out because he’s unhappy with his contract he took a monumental risk that his replacement, Monterio Hardesty, could take his spot permantly by fitting into the offense better. And Hardesty may well have done that. In all likelihood he will get more opportunities the rest of the season to see if he can produce and stay healthy and Hillis could find himself in a different uniform next year under a similar contract. Only this time, he will have a reputation as a malcontent who puts himself ahead of the team.

I thought Strep was just a sore throat once and went a week without any meds or even going to the clinic. I developed Rheumatic Fever and couldn’t work for days, much less even get out of bed…Strep is a serious thing and has a rep for being a “slight condition”. If dude said he was feeling like he couldn’t play, I believe him. He hasn’t acted like a diva to this point, so why assume he is?

Stupid story. The Browns sent him home. He could have infected the entire team. If he was huffing and puffing in the huddle he could have infected the whole offense after 60+ huddles. Geez guys, just because an ESPN 3rd tier talking head spreads a rumor doesnt mean you have to pass it along. That’s why I’m not watching ESPN right now.

Under those contract circumstances I could see an injured player worried about re-injury sitting out a game to protect their investment…. but strep throat isn’t exactly an injury that you’d be worried about re-injuring.

Also, as a Browns fan, I watched Hillis play in a lot of pain multiple times last year. Dude is a tank.

Schefter is a piece of……….
Hillis is all class. I believe “him!” If whispers were in the locker room…..it was the Schefter types that perpetrated the talk.
I have had strep throat. It’s not fun and it’s highly contagious. The “TEAM” was right in sending him hope. You don’t want to indect the whole team!
I appreciate the media providing me with quality news. This kind of $$$$ from Scheftner is nothing but garbage reporting!
Hillis should kick his arse!!!

All the cynics in the world rejoice. It’s the easiest job in the world, next to being a receiver in Peyton Manning’s offense, complaining and bellyaching about someone you either envy or want to emulate. Hillis needn’t justify his decision and choice, his play does that.

I don’t think you can compare injury’s to being sick. I would much rather play with a hurt body part than, with a fever, strep throat, the flue or any of that B.S.
Hillis was good last year but not great. I think the Browns front office isn’t buying into all the hype around Hillis like Browns fans are.

Look at Desean Jackson. He thought he was getting a big contract this year and the Eagles front office seems to be intelligent enough to see if he can reproduce before they pay him, and he hasn’t. It’s all business.

This site, and the BS/misleading/blatantly false stories it chooses to run is becoming worse than the National Enquirer.

Yes, I’m sure that after all the positive things that Hillis has said about how much he loves playing for the Browns and the city of Cleveland- and after how much he’s seen that the fans of the team worship him- and being intelligent and humble enough to know that one good year’s performance is not going to suddenly get you paid in the top 10 RBs in the league, he’s gonna have an impromptu hold-out on Sunday during a game. Yes, “Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that there are whispers in the locker room…” -as if Schefter was even *in* the locker room… or as if the players are going to whisper things with that doofus in earshot.

This is about as made-up as it gets. Schefter wants desperately to feel like an insider. The players probably laugh at him when he is in a locker room.

Maybe it’s a staph infection in his throat or did the Browns finally get their practice facility sanitized.
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Players, back 3 or 4 YEARS ago, were contracting staph at Cleveland Clinic, not the Browns practice facility. Maybe you should have half a clue what you’re trying to make fun of before you, once again, make yourself look clueless in an attempt to be funny that bombs…

Holmgren will not over pay this guy. Garuntee he still has a bitter taste in his mouth from Shaun Alexander. In most cases it seems a RB loses their drive after getting paid. It also looks like Hardesty is playing pretty well right now. I’d trade him for a few picks and make him someone elses problem. Holmgren sure says all the right things in the media though doesn’t he. He will talk the guy up and then break his balls in negotiations behind closed doors.